Sports
I’m a former NBA second-round pick who eared $17m in career – I was forced to retire early and became att… – The US Sun
EVAN Eschmeyer spent six years at Northwestern University before he finally made it to the NBA in 1999.
But the 6-foot-11 center made an unexpected return to the prestigious college just a few years later after injuries blighted his NBA career.
A top recruit, Eschmeyer was expected to turn around the fortunes of Northwestern in the mid 1990s.
However, a broken foot kept him out his first two seasons.
Several doctors told him would never play again but Eschmeyer received a rare two medical redshirt years.
Eschmeyer recovered but Northwestern failed to make it to the NCAA basketball tournament during his time at the Big 10 program.
“It hurts that I never played,” he says.
“It’s one of those few things that I have to live with as far as regrets for the rest of my life.”
He was picked up by the New Jersey Nets in the second round of the 1999 NBA Draft and made his debut in January 2000.
"I don't think my feet ever touched the ground," Eschmeyer recalls.
"I was just delirious with the whole spectrum of emotions."
Eschmeyer's joy soon turned to disappointment after chronic knee problems forced him out of the NBA after four seasons and five surgeries.
A low point came when he felt like somebody shot him in the leg while warming up for a 2003 playoff game with the Dallas Mavericks.
Doctors told him to quit playing for the sake of his future health.
It was a devastating blow.
"Being forced out of the NBA was one of the most difficult things I have ever been through," Eschmeyer said.
"Imagine you take a world-class painter and cut off his hands so he can never paint again.
"All of a sudden basketball was gone, and I couldn't even play pickup with my dad."
After retiring from the Mavericks in October 2004, Eschmeyer got involved with politics in his home state of Ohio.
Having worked as a representative at the NBA players’ union, Eschmeyer then returned to Northwestern to take the elite law-business double-degree program.
"Whether you're an investment banker or a lawyer or a basketball player, to be able to be at the top of your profession and work with people who are the best is a gift," he said.
"You learn so much from pushing yourself as you work with them. That's what led me to Northwestern's JD-MBA."
For eight years Eschmeyer was the chief financial officer of telecommunications development company Atlas Tower Group in Boulder, Colorado.
Now he makes his fortune in private investment.
“Kind of a boring sort-of financial investor lifestyle,” he says.
Eschmeyer, 48, is frustrated about his injury-plagued career but he remains proud of his stint in the NBA.
“It was absolutely incredible that I got to fulfill my childhood dream,” Eschmeyer said.
"I got to that level and was able to compete with the best basketball players on the planet.
"Any time you can get to that level of your profession it’s a great thing.”
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